Orienting device



INVEI'N'VI'OR PHILIP WOLFERS BY 1 E ATTORNEY P. WOLFERS ORIENTING DEVICEFiled 13%. 9, 1940 Get. 16; 1945.

Patented Oct. 16, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT EFliC'E-f ORIENTING DEVICEPhilip Wolfers, New-York, N-*..Y., assignor. ofonee third to I. NewtonBrozamAaron Holman, and- J. Stanley Halperin, all of New York, 18)..Y.

Application-December 9, 1940; Serial Nb.- 369,159

8 Claims.

This" invention relates to orienting devices.

' One of'the objects of my invention is tb p'rovid'e an orienting devicewhich shall greatly facilitate aerial and marine navigation.

Another object of my-inventi on is to provide an orienting device bymeans of which a pair of synchronized strip-maps which show the'sameterritory, but which are drawn to different scales, may be used'tosimplify aerial and'marine naviation.

Another object of my'invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed in which apair of stripmaps-of the characterdescribed-move inparallel directions under a pair-of aligned apertures, and in which themaps arefiso distorted that a predetermined route will always-be visiblethrough said apertures.

Aiurther object of: my invention is to provide animproved orienting'deviceof the character described which shall comprise'relatively fewparts, shall besimple to operate, and which; at the same time, shallpossess a highdegree of em?- ciency in use.

Other objects of my invention will in part be claimed'in thisapplication are shown, described and claimed: in my' copendingapplication for orienting device, SerialNo. 359,200, filedOctober 1,1940.

The invention accordingly consists'in the. featuresof construction,-comb-inations'of elements, and arrangement off'parts which will be,exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which thescope of' applicationwill'be indicated inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawing, inv which is shown one of the variouspossible embodiments of myinvention, V

Fig. 1 is-a plan view of anordinary'small scale map indicated a routewhich is'desired to be traversed; I

Fig. 2. is a smallscale strip mapconstructed in accordance with myinvention from the map shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a large scale strip map of a portion of the route shown inFig. 1 and constructed. in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of'an orienting device embodying myinvention and adapted for use-with the map shown in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 55' ofFig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged'sectional view taken su stantiallyalong the'line6--6 0f Fig. 4; and

Fig; 7 is a fragmentaryview of a di'aland a pointeremployediin my=orienting device to-aid ihin'd'icating whether the propercourse-offltravel isbei-ng'followed w Referring-now toth e'drawihg; U1is anorient ing" device embodying; my invention and coin-'- prisinga"box like housing ll' having a coverf l 2 removably' attached thereto inany suitablemanner; as bymeans of a pluraiity of screwsf "l3 whichthreadedly engage lugs o'nthe-side walls-oi the'housing ll. L l

Suitably supported within thefhousing I I3 as by' a spool' assembly suchasthat" described in my copending application- SerialYNoj 359,200; are apair of strip maps Ajand B, generally similar to the maps shown anddescribed in said copen ding application Saidmaps aredrawn to, differentscales. Thus map A is a'small'scale map; which shows in'general outlinea predete'rg mined route-to be traversed; and map BI which isa largescale map,- shows" in greater detaiil local landmarks along saidipredetermined route. 7 Byway-of example; map 'A may lje drawrr to ascale of five miles to an inch, sothat if apor tion of this mapfiveinches jlong isexposed at least twenty-five miles-of 'the routeWilIbevi's: ibleto a person employing the devicgand he will be able todetermine his location with respect tothenext few towns-ahead and anytowns and points of'possible interest'to' him; in hisgeneral vicinity.If a corresponding five ihch'p'orti'on of map E, which may be drawn toascale of'one mile tothe inch,- ise'x-posed' it will-represent a stripfive mileslong along the route'to be 'trav ersed. This map B'willillustrate landmarks ih correspondingly greater detail.

Each ofthe'maps A and-'B' ismount'ed on a pair of" flanged spools Mwhich are" journaled at oneend on the side walls thdhousing ll andsupported at the'other end on a one-way, frictio n sllp, driving"meClia-rliSrn' IBP'WhiCh'fiSi a'o-ttu'ate'd from a gear box [6? "Said'gear boxes are interconnected through a clutch 'l 1 having? anexternally disposed actuating handle l8, so that saidmapsA and Brnaybesynchronousl'y driven at'a ratio of spee s which is inversely proportional tothe scale of themaps." In the illustrated examplemap A whichisdrawn to a scale of five miles-to the inch will be-driven"at'one fifthofthe speed of map B which is drawn to a scale of one mile to the inch.

The maps andgear trains may be moved" in any-suitable-manne-r; asmanually by means-of either of a pair" of knobs" [9} on automatically toshow an appreciable area of surrounding terv Said apertures may beprovided with transparent panes ritory, are formed in the cover I2.

22 and 23, one of which 22, disposed over map A, may have a small souare24 centrally outlined therein and is so dimensionedthat it encloses onthe small scale map A an area equal to that shown through the apertures2| disposed over the large scale map B, A pair of centrally disposed,aligned hair-lines and 26 may also be provided in the panes-22 and 23 toindicate corresponding points on the two stripmans.

In employing my orienting device ill, the maps A and B are firstsynchroni ed by throwing out the clutch l1 and independently moving eachmap A and B-by means of its knob l8 until corresponding portions of saidmaps are under the hair-lines 25 and 26. For this purpose specialmarkings, preferably in an outstanding color such as red, may beprovided on each map to indicate identical sites. After the maps havebeen-thus initia ly synchronized the clutch I1 is thrown in and thedevice is ready for use. Subsequent rotation of either of the knobs I9will then move the maps A and B at such a predetermined ratio of speedsthat corresponding portions of both maps will constantly lie under thehair-lines 25 and 26 and ,withinvthe areas defined by the square 24 andaperture 2|. In this manner a traveler may, with the aid of the locallandmarks on the large scale map B, continually shift said map so thatthe portion disposed under the hair-line 2Bwill indicate his location.If an integrator is employed variations in speed occasioned by head andtail winds may be corrected by intermittently referring to map B. At thesame time, the traveler's location on the small scale map A will beindicated by the hair-line 25 so that he may constantly check hisorientation and position with respect to the various towns andlocalities which lie ahead of and around him.

As the maps A and B are of limited width and, during operation of theorienting device l0, travel in fixed parallel paths under the apertures20 and 2|, in the event that the route to be traversed departsappreciably from a straight line of travel, special means must beprovided to cause all portions of the route to lie within the confinesof the strip and to pass under said apertures. In accordance with myinvention I provide two such means, each, of which is speciallyadaptedfor use with one of the strip maps A and B.

Referring first to the construction of the small scale strip map A, inFig. 1 I have shown an ordinary fiat projection map 30 in which theheavy solid line 3| represents a route desired to be traversed betweentwo towns, Adona and Canby, by way of a third town, Basco, which doesnot lie on the straight lines between said first two towns. I prefer tohave the map 30 drawn to the same scale as that ultimately to be used inthe small scale strip map A, although a-difierent scale may be employedand proper compensation later made therefor.

A pair of parallel lines 32 and 33 are drawn through points lying toeither side of Adona. Said lines are spaced apart a distance equal tothe width of the final strip A, that is, of substantially the same widthas that of the aperture 20 with which the map A is adapted to beassociated. The, direction o f the lines 32 and 33 with respect to theroute 31 is such that a maximum length of route and all landmarks andpoints of interest lying reasonably close to the route on both sidesthereof, will be disposed between said lines.

An arbitrary point (in thisinstance Basco) situated on the route-3| isthen chosen, which lies near the point of intersection 34 of the route3| and one of the boundary lines 32 and 33, and

. which is approximately closest to the mid-point between said boundarylines. A perpendicular 35 is next dropped to one of the boundary linesand an are 35 of the length of the perpendicular is swung about theselected point of the route (Basco) as center. Another pair of boundarylines 31 and v3%, similar to the lines 32 and 33, is then drawn on bothsides of the next portion of the route (Basco to Canby). One of thelines 31, which lies on the same side of the selected point (Basco) asthe boundary line 32 towhich the perpendicular 35 was dropped, is drawntangent to the are 36. The portions of the route 3| between the boundarylines are then cut from the original map 32 and rearranged in properorder with the boundary lines 32 and 31 and 33and 38 disposed on thesame side of the route 3| and in alignment as shown in Fig. 2. Toavoidconfusion and maintain uniformity at'the junction between two sectionsof the strip map A, originally defined by pairs of angularly disposedboundary lines, the end 39 of the section nearest the starting point(Adena) is made perpendicular to its boundary lines 32 and 33 and at theadjacent end of the next succeeding section-the duplicated portion 48and overlapping portion 4! are trimmed away. If desired, the compassorientation of the boundary lines may be indicated along the margin ofthe strip map as by the numerals 42.

It will be apparent that ina strip map A constructed in accordance withthe procedure above outlined, all portions of the route, landmarks, andpoints of interest on both sides of said route will be disposed withinthe confines of said strip and will be so positioned that they will passbeneath said aperture. Also, the route will be represented by a linewhich is unbroken at the juncture of two adjacent sections.

If thestrip map A is to be used for aerial o marine navigation, theroute to be travers (except over very long distances) may be 'reprsented by straight lines 43 and the various boun ary lines 32, 33, 3'!and 38 will be drawn paral} to the several portions of said route. 1 i

It should be noted that the latitude and longitude lines of adjacentsections on the strip are angularly disposed with respect to each other,thus visibly indicating the exact point where map distortion occurs andadditionally showing to aerial or marine navigators the place where achange of direction must be made.

The distortions of the strip map A for maintaining all parts of theroute beneath the aperture in the orienting device I0 must be duplicatedon the large scale-strip map 13, as the maps A and B are to beconstantly kept in synchronism. However, due to the narrow width ofterritory zdepiicted flay :the ilargel scale strip map I-B and to tthemeanderingeourse OiZIIaHYJZOadSJtWiH often be found. that portionsaiofitheiroute :3 I although twholly within :the =:confines of .thesmall scale .strimmap :A, willt lie without the boundary I lines 1.50and fiI-(Fig. 3) ofitheilargezscalestrip map' B. :{Inrthis-event: it?is: necessary to: so clistort the projecting, portions-52: of .thezroute53 I that they will .pass beneath their-associated aperture fil and will:lie wholly withinzthe.iconfinesiofthe strip B with out disturbing athezsvnchronism and scale relationship of ithermapssA'and B in theirdirection of movement. I accomplish this 'by uniformly :distorting :theprojecting :portions 52 in a directionznenpendicular ato lthe Eboundarylines 5t and .Referringzto Fig. 3,1 this is effected by selecting r-twoarbitraryzpoints D a-nd :E along the route 3 I j-whichzlie one zonseach:side "of the proj ectingp'or- -..tionz52.=andrareiiisposed-well-within-the boundary rlines r50 iand ii'l. :Anotherarbitrary point F is :chosem'which, :for iconvenienee, as will soon beapparent, sshoul'd be 'the point "on the projecting portionifitwhichisfurthest from the boundary dines. iAxlast arbitrary point G-is selectedwhich :lies :on aailine :FG perpendiculanto the boundary ili'nesfill'and 5 I an'd which will representthe disitorte'drposition of the pointF, To-locate the dis- -tortedi position of any other'point'on-the"1'oute"be- -tweenD and EJI nowdraw straight lines'DRDG,

EE,:and.EG. The distorted position-of point H iisprrowiobtainedby-drawing the line HH 'from'H taperpendi'cular tolthe boundarydin'es 5tand 5|,

. unningiailinei-lfH" paralle'ltothe boundary" lines cifromrl-lito -theouter slopedlin'e' DF, running an iotheriline HH" parallel to 'HHfrom"H" on lliF to H on 19G andfinally "running the line :H"5H'T.from I-Iunti1 itintersec'ts HI-I at 'H, rthedi'storte'd position ofpoint-H.Itmay'be shown iby isimilar triangles that the distortion of allipoin-ts-on the-'rou'te' til between D'and'F is ,pro- :portionafito the-"distanoe ofeach point from a 'cbasedine'runningthrough "D and parallelto the -bounda1=y linesfiil and 5I. 'The "distortion of all points fromFto "E is likewise proportional to their distance from "a base linerunning through I-t==wi1l'thus*be seen thatI'have constructed bauniforrril-y "distorted large"scale map on, which ihenea'th itsassociated aperture "'21 and willlie wvholly within v thecon'finesofits-boundary lines,

and whih rnap can 'be keptini'syn'chronism with :wsmallscalwmap -not sodistorted without pro- ?vidlng' any additional elements *initheorienting iiievice l ll.

. 'llhe angular distortiondf-the "Stripimaps A-vancl Bpsetiforth aboveinfietailin connection .with

be'aring -62 supported in 'a'standar'd ilisiandtdrives a hollow '"shafttfi rthrough a ,pair of ,,.bevel egears '6'5and-66. 'The shaft "64'is.-,p.erpendicular to the portion'of the'maplA"located'ibetween thespools flfd, an'dits upper end I6! .is disposed \below the centerof'suchportion. .AIhollownstep bearing'69 rctatablyauppcmtsrthess'hattEkatzareducedcpart Fill :thereo'f and :pemiit tthezlower :shaft endi'lzl 130 rextend Trbeyond: the abottnm rofzthe-housing :Iil fthrough 5a:disc 12 ito the :shaft end. :Numerals l3 inscribed on csaid :discrill-2 1 denote compass :direfitions. A rznarke'r :ll 'iis :provide'dzto :Lindicate lnrientatinn of cthe compass 56 0, rand tthe disc 112 is:so zangularly -rdisposed rain ":relation athere'torthatzacompasszindtcatiomnumber 11350.1 :positei saidzmarkernwillxindicate ithe."dlliGQtiOl'liDf :movement ofdche mobileacraftimwliichrmyiorientrindevice 2 lflzisst-situated.

lrEixedlymounted theiuppertendrof :the :shaft 6r4:.-is ea hollow iplug Fwhich :carries :aicompass :needles'IS. .Sai'dneedlemiisiarrangeditonnaketthe samezanglevrelativreitothe:direction-:of movement zofithermaplmasltherangleiwhieh the mobile craft:makes wvithith'etznorth. Lights :11 rdisposed 'lcelnw ithe :needleT Hicasts the meedleslshadow on :the vtranslucentnnap A. :Inrthis mannerithe-fcomtpass "needle rwillrvisuallyi indicate on :the :.map .i'A theinstantaneous tangle :b etween; north :and the --zdire'ct-ion .of:movement of tthe mobile :cr'aft.

Associatediwith lthe icompass .needle' 1-6 tare a apluralityofsspacedparallelzorienting needles l!!! --wl:xieh.=7a12eead'aptedftorshowathe instantaneous :rleaviation iof ithe cdirection cdftravel of -:ther-mobile rcrafti rom theenoute fles'iredito beftraversed.iSaid needles i'li'l areiverylthirrsosastto castzonly' a :h-air- :lin'esshadow :on the :strip map :A and are held immediatelyabelow ithessurf-aee :(if :said map sbysa :crossbars'l8"whichiisim'ountedinacollar-I9, The "collaris? attachedtto the upper: reduced 'end'8 0 iiofzazshaft-liI rdisposedwithin the hollow shaft '64. ."Saidrshaft :8I zisijournaled at itsupper end? in -the:bor.e:of ."the "plug [6 andtatLitsv lower. end in 1a sleeve:82ffixed within said hollow-shaft "64. Theshaft 8| projectsbeyondwhe end of the shaft' xandzis providedlOnISEidTPIOjTCtiOII portion with a pointer :83 Band Tknurled foperating(knob 84. Sam :shaft 158 I :is in :light frictional engagement with therbearing surface iof :the plug 11:5 and sleeve 82 a so I that :the shaft8 I will turn with the shaft -64, '-.but :may :be rotated independentlyof ithe-s'haft:64 by manipulation of the knob :84.

:It "wilhthus be seenthat 'the orienting needles 1! maybe adjustably:disposed in angular relationship relativejto the'compassneedle16,'whereupon'anyrangular movement of the'compass needle r156 will'becduplicated by-the orienting needles Assume now that :it is desired toemploy my orienting device i I 0" to :proceed' on an aerial-bombingmission from Adona .to Canby, and thatat anfintermediate rendezvousBas'co, not one direet-line between Adona and Canby, aprotecting-squadron is .to be'pic'ked-up. The direction from Adonato:Basco will beiassumed to be due :north and from Basco to Canbynorthwest. The strip map:A in such event'willhavethe appearance-ofthemap'shown inFig. 2,th'e second'section thereof having the lines ofTlatitud'e and --longitude tat-anangle fof "15 with the boundary lines31.:and 38"ofrsaidstripand'withthe route 13 be "traversed (indicated bydotted'lines).

-?Whenthe*aeroplane carrying the orienting device-starts its flight fromAdona, in a northerly direction, examination of 'thedisc l2 willdisclose that theLzero mumeral I3 thereof will bedisposed opposite the'marker T4. The knob this "then manipulated to'causeithe pointer 83 tobe in'reg- :istry "with :said :zero numeral "on the disc T2, "wherebythe orienting needles 11 'will be disposed in parallelirelationship :tothe compass needle 16. rAsJong as the; aeroplane 'continuesto prmceeddue' north the shadow'oi thejcompass .nee-

dle l6 and orienting-needles :1] will be parallel to the direction ofmovement of the striptmapA and therefore to the -route beingtraversed;.said

route being disposed so as toliei' parallel to the V 'boundarylines 3'!and 38. When Bas co has been reached and the escort picked up, theaeroplane will turnin a northwesterlydirection, whereupon the disc 12will swing i'as showniin Fig. 7 until the numeral 315 lies oppositethe'marker 14. The

-knob 84 is then manipulated to cause the pointer 83 to be disposedopposite the numeral 13 which indicates the direction of travel, in thisinstance 3159. The orientingneedles l1 willthus be positioned at anangle of 315 (45) to the compass needle 'Hiand the shadow ofsaidorienting needles 11 will be disposed parallel-to the direction offlight of the craft. Aplurality of needles is employed so that theshadow of at least one" of them will be close to-the route 43 beingtraversed,

In this manner all the pilot' or navigator need do to keep the craft inits proper line of flight is to'observe the relationshipbetween theroute .43 and the shadow of the orienting needles 1! matter herein setforth or shown inthe'accompanyin'g drawing "is' to be interpreted'asillustrative and not in alimiting sensex -1' 'Having-thus described" myinvention, I claim as new'and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An orienting 'devic'ei'of the character described comprising a platehaving a viewing aperture, a strip map disposed beneath said aperture,means to'move said mappast said aperture,

a shaft whose an ular position is a'iuncti'on of theangular orientationof said device,'an orienting needle rotatable with saidshaft andin-re'gistrywith i said aperture whereby the position of i said needlerelative to said map may be obs erved, andmeans to vary the angular'relationship between said orienting needle and said shaft.

2. An orienting device of the character" described comprising a platehavinga viewing 'aperture, a s tripmap disposed beneath said 'aperture,means to movesaid map past said aperture,

a compass-needle, anorienting needle rotatable with saidcompassine'edle, both'said'needles being in'registry with said aperturewherebythe position of said needles relative to said map may beobserved, and'means to Vary the angular relationship betweenisaidorienting needle and'said compass needle. L

"3. An orienting 'deviceof' the character described comprising 'a'platehaving" a viewing aperture; a strip map'whereon the route desired to betraversed by a mobile craft is straight 'a nd parallel to the side edgesof said map, means'to move saidmap past said aperture, a shaft whoseangular position is fa function of the angular orientationi'ofsaid"device, an orienting "needle rotatablewithsaid compassshaftand inregistry-with said aperture whereby'the position of said needlerelative'to said map may be observed {and-11183118130 vary theangular-relationship between said orienting needle and said shaftwhereby said orienting needle may be so disposed as to indicate on" saidmap the direction oftravel of said mobile craft relative to saicl router4. An orienting device of the character described comprising a platehaving a'viewing aperture, a strip map of a route to be traversed by amobile craft, said route comprising a plurality of angularly disposedstraight portions, said map being so distorted that the route consistssubstantially of asingle straight line parallel to the side edges ofsaid map, said line comprising all of said angularly disposed straightportions, means to move said'map past said aperture,-a shaft whoseangular position is a function of the angular orientation of saiddevice, an orienting needle rotatable with said shaft and in registrywith said aperture whereby the position of said needle relative to saidmap may be observed, and means to vary the'angular relationship betweensaid orienting needle and said shaft whereby said orienting needle maybe so disposed as to indicate on said map the direction of travel ofsaid mobile craft relative to said route.

5. An orienting device of the character de scribed comprising aplatehaving a viewingiaperture, a strip map of a route to be traversedby a mobile craft, said route comprising a plurality of angularlydisposed straight portions, said map being so distorted that the routeconsistssubstantially of a single unbroken straight line parallel to theside edges of said map, said line comprising all of said anguiarlydisposed straight portions, means on'said map toindicate the parts ofsaid straight line representing the different straight portions of saidroute, means-to move said map past saidaperture, a shaft whose angularposition is a function of the angular orientation of said device, anorienting needle rotatable with said shaft and in registry with saidaperture whereby the position of said needle relative to said map may bobserved, and means to vary the angular relationship between saidorienting needle .and said shaft whereby said orienting needle may be sodisposed as to indicate on said map the direction of travel of saidmobile craft relative to said route.

6. An orienting device of the character described comprising, a platehavin aizviewing aperture, a strip map of a route tobe-traversed byamobile craft, said route comprising a, plurality of angularly disposedstraight portions, said map being so distorted that the routeconsistssubstantially of avsingle unbrokenstraight line parallel to the sideedges of -said;=rmap,-said line comprising all. of: said angularlydisposed straight portions, means on said map to indicate the parts ofsaid straight line representingithe different straightportions of saidroute, means to move saidmap past said aperture, a pair of concentricshafts, means responsive to thev angular orientation of said device tomove the tfirst of'said shafts, a compass needle :associatedwith saidfirst shaft and in, registration with said aperture to visibly indicatea northerlydirection on said map relative to said route, means tocausethe secondof said shafts to rotate with said/first shaft, means to varythe angular relationship between said, first and said second shafts, andan orienting needle associated with said-second shaft, and inregistration with said aperture to indicate on, saidmap the direction ofI movement of saidmobile craft relative to said route -..7

L 7. An orienting device of the character described comprising a. platehaving aviewing aperture, a strip map of a route to be traversed by amobile craft, said route comprising a plurality of angularly disposedstraight portions, said map being so distorted that the route consistssubstantially of a single unbroken straight line parallel to the sideedges of said map, said line comprising all of said angularly disposedstraight portions, means on said map to indicate the parts of saidstraight line representing the difierent straight portions of saidroute, means to move said map past said aperture, a hollow first shaft,a second shaft disposed within said first shaft, bearing means in saidfirst shaft to rotatably support said second shaft in a light frictionalengagement, said second shaft projecting beyond both ends of said firstshaft, a compass needle and indicating dial mounted on opposite ends ofand rotatable with said first shaft, an orienting needle and a pointermounted on opposite ends of and movable with said second shaft, meansresponsive to the angular orientation of said device to move said firstshaft, manually manipulatable means to rotate said second shaft relativeto said first shaft, said needles being in registry with said aperture,and means to indicate the angular position of said compass needle andsaid orienting needle on said map, whereby said compass needle will showon said map a northerly direction relative to said route, and saidorienting needle will show on said map the direction of movement of saidmobile craft relative to said route.

8. An orienting device of the character described comprising a platehaving a viewing aperture, a strip map disposed beneath said aperture,

